Accused bank robber drops lottery ticket used to identify him for arrest

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Footage from a September bank robbery in Palatine shows the suspect. Dexter L. Riley has been charged in the incident. (FBI)

Accused bank robber drops lottery ticket used to identify him for arrest

Footage from a September bank robbery in Palatine shows the suspect. Dexter L. Riley has been charged in the incident. (FBI)

PALATINE, Ill. — An Arlington Heights man accused of robbing a bank dropped a lottery ticket that police were able to use to identify him.

FBI agents identified and charged Dexter L. Riley, 38, with robbery after they tracked a lottery ticket seen in bank surveillance footage to his purchase of it.

At 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, a man dressed in dark clothing and dark wig entered the Chase bank branch at 1131 E. Dundee Road in Palatine, according the Chicago Tribune.

The man positioned his hand in a sweatshirt pocket, making the teller think that he could have a gun, and gave the teller a plastic bag with a note that read “Put all the money in the bag and we won’t have any problems,” according to a complaint filed in criminal court Wednesday.

Though $8,200 was stolen cash, FBI noticed a lottery ticket trailing from the bank robber’s pocket in the surveillance footage.

The Illinois scratch-off ticket was traced back to a Rolling Meadows gas station, according to the Tribune, where the ticket had been purchased with other tickets on Sept. 27 by a person matching the robber description.

Illinois Lottery officials worked with the FBI to find the Deer Park gas station where the tickets were cashed. There, security footage showed the ticket-casher who matched the description of the robber driving a Chrysler Pacifica with temporary plates, according to the complaint.

Local police on alert for the car spotted it in Arlington Heights, arrested the driver, Riley, and brought him to the Palatine Police Department for questioning, according to the complaint.

Riley admitted that he robbed the bank and used the money to pay rent and purchase the car, drugs and a video game system, according to the complaint.